The first true English conversation…

IMG_0456This is THE day. Today is the day when me and my Swedish friends had an English conversation without thinking of it being English. After five weeks of speaking almost only English (yes of course also some Swedish, but just a little) with my international IIB-friends I finally found my self actually having an English conversation with my fellow country friends from Sweden. I felt really excited! Can you believe it? I spoke English with my SWEDISH friends and we didn’t even think about it. I will remember this day for a long time to come!  You may ask yourself at this point why I’m so happy about this phenomena? Well, the reason for me being so happy is that I’m finally feel comfortable with speaking English. Hallelujah!

Have you ever been in a foreign country? Probalby most of you have. Then you know the feeling of not finding your words when speaking to someone in another language. These situations are starting to get more uncommon for us. Its more common that I just spit the word out and sometimes a little bit to fast, hehe.

I’m not speaking perfectly in any way, but I’m just not nervous about speaking anymore.

At least not in everyday life conversations. I never expected it to go so fast, but I believe that the progress is probably a result of us really trying to learn the English language. Another contributor is the fact that we’re practicing it every day. And I have my IIB classmates to thank for this. I’m so grateful! We’ve all improved our English skills and it’s so fun to see how we all get more comfortable speaking it every day.

The first English presentation..

Before coming here, the thought of me standing in front of a crowd and doing a presentation in English was nerve crackling, but now its just one more experience for me. Today we had our first one-by-one English presentation. Oboy you can imagine me being kind of nervous before entering the stage. But as soon as I got started, I actually enjoyed it. It was a great feeling to master a presentation in another language.

As in any situation in life, I like to challenge my self and overcome obstacles. It’s the same with the English language. I want to learn to speak and write fluently. So, with this said, I would like to encourage you all to go out there and learn another language. Its soon much fun!!

Whats next?..

I wonder what comes next, dreaming in English or forgetting the Swedish language? Stayed tuned and you might found out 😉

25th annual Taste of New Paltz.

All began during a sad afternoon at our motel. Everyone were busy, someone studied in their room someone else in the library and three girls were doing kayaking. In my mind there was only one word: STUDY, but it was a beautiful Saturday, last summer weekend, it was hot and there weren’t clouds in the sky. Okay, I can’t spend my time here.. I want go out!During the week, I saw many posters about an annual festival in New Paltz: Taste of New Paltz. I was so curious … so I called a cab and decided to spend one hour there with one of my friends, before start to study. In less than 10 minutes we arrived in a unknown part of the city; there were many beautiful houses, among km of wheat fields and sunflowers and then.. a huge green lawn, many families with children running around on the grass. It was a wonderful scene!

It was the 25th year that New Paltz organised this event and we could not miss it. After paid $10 to enter, my friend Gaia and I started to taste every kind of food. Wasn’t that the purpose of the fair?! We started with a strange fried empanadas with beef, I discovered that this is one of the typical dishes in Jamaica.. It was delicious! The next stand prepared, however, a special kind of corn with cheese, curry and paprika, but the best taste of this incredible afternoon was a amazing pizza cooked with wood-oven, as the Italian tradition. Everything about the pizza reminded me of my country. At the end, as a real lunch, we bought an exquisite mini chocolate cupcake. After about an hour, at the end of our tour, I realized that there were many activities to raise awareness of their food and products to the citizens of New Paltz .. Wow, this was great! In this way, I was able to try dishes from restaurants that I didn’t know before and certainly I’ll try after this experience.

It was a really good afternoon spent with my friend! Beautiful place, nice people, good music and new food. Now, are you asking why the symbol of this fair is an apple? Try to get out of this fair without tasting a dish in which there was the apple! It’s impossible, trust me.

Visit also:

www.newpaltzchamber.org

Facebook: Tast of New Paltz

A FUNNY MOVIE NIGHT AT SUNY NEW PALTZ UNIVERSITY

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We almost come to the end of the fourth week of our “adventure” here in the US, and we haven’t lived yet the real life of a Suny New Paltz student. So we decided to take part at one of the various activities organized by the Center for Student Development: the movie night.
For me it was a totally new and exciting experience, especially because Italian universities usually don’t organize events like this. Indeed, we don’t have a real campus where students live and do activities together also during the evening.
And it’s a pity because, through campus entertainment events and activities, students can get involved in campus life, and this is a further opportunity to meet new people and mingle, getting the most during college education.
So, me and other girls decided to spend our Saturday night like a real American student, first having dinner at the Dining Hall and then watching a movie in one of the classrooms at the Lecture Center. Was our chance to meet other incoming Fall 2015 students and networking with them, after all it’s never too early to start making connections.

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During this totally free event, we were offered popcorn and drinks, with the chance to participate to the raffle drawing at the end of the weekly movie, Jurassic World.

The organizers were able to recreate the atmosphere of the cinema, putting at their ease those students who decided to participate.

During the show, it seemed to be in our bedroom surrounded by our friends, each of them was rejoicing and clapping with us during the most exciting scenes.
Little by little we surrendered to that familiar and funny atmosphere, finding ourselves commenting out loud along with everyone else.

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Although it wasn’t one of my favorite, the level of involvement created in the room made this movie one of the most pleasant and beautiful I’ve ever seen.

 

The plot in a nutshell: Isla Nublar opens the gates: the dream of John Hammond to create a theme park with regenerated and cloned dinosaurs is now reality. The reptiles, now devoid of mystery and anxiety, are downgraded to almost circus animals in the service of multinationals and genetic experiments, the result of which is the most ferocious dinosaur ever: the “Indominus Rex”. Soon, however, the managers of “Jurassic World” will have to deal with their terrible creature.

Overall it was an enjoyable evening that I can not wait to repeat.

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 The next movie event will be on Saturday, October 3 at the Lecture Center.

To keep up with the many activities offered by Suny New Paltz University, click like on this Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/SUNYNewPaltzClassof2019?fref=ts

A different but inspiring way of going through school

11914926_10153491271551638_157669319_nFor us IIB students it has been three intense weeks of making our selves at home here in New Paltz. I think we all can agree on that the town is very adapted to student life, which is great for us! There are a lot of Hawk-dollar restaurants all over the area and a lot of cafés and other shops that offer student discounts. Hawk-dollar is the payment card we use to buy food at restaurants and grocery stores. Well, even though I would like to write about all the nice restaurants where you can use Hawk-dollars (Main course!) around New Paltz, I’ve chosen another topic for this post. Instead I want to write about some of the differences I noticed in school here at SUNY New Paltz, compared to my University back home in Lund, Sweden.

Everything in school at SUNY New Paltz reminds me of every American high school or college movie11938941_10153491271866638_458676606_n I’ve ever seen all combined together. The dining hall, the many associations you can join, the American accent, the greetings “Hi, How u doing”, peoples friendliness etc. Pretty much everything and everyone here feels familiar but at the same time new and inspiring.

When it comes to manners, rules and regulations in the classroom it differs in many ways form what I’m used to, but I actually appreciate it. In Sweden, I don’t think we even have talk about manners in the classroom with our professors at our University. But here it’s different. My first thought when one of our professors at school here in New Paltz said that we weren’t allowed to use our computers or cell phones during class was: WHAT?!?!. But after attending three weeks of class with this Professor I actually admit that I like it. There are no distractions form a beeping phones or emails on our computers. It’s nice to get a break from the “Internet” once in a while. As a result, everyone, well at least the majority of the class, listens and interacts with the professors and other students.

The Professors at SUNY also give me an expression of that they feel responsible for our achievements and success. My Management Professor always begins class by asking us if we have any questions regarding class, school or life. The same professor knows every name of his 40 students. Do you think we feel appreciated and seen by him? Of course we do and it’s awesome! Therefor, a lot of our classmates also interact in discussions, because they feel safe to do so. I really feel that I the professors are here to help me.

The mentality here is that people help each other, which I think is a great. Most of the Professors are very friendly and helpful, in a personal way. This mentality motivates me and makes me feel very welcome. Keep up the good work professors at SUNY New Paltz!

 

 

Plus Tax

I guess this is another post about cultural differences or better said, customs. For US citizen this post might not make that much sense, but I think some others foreigners might feel identified.

Bills and Coins

Being an accounting guy living on a tight budget, makes me think carefully when shopping. That is why I always add up in my head my groceries and almost everything I buy. But this seem not to work in this country.

I  come from a country that if a product has a price at the shelf, that is the price you will pay to get it.  Taxes are still there, and believe me they are high, but since they are already included. It’s been over a month and still I can’t get used to paying everything a different price from the one posted.

I didn’t notice this effect at full size until my credit card statement got to my e-mail, and believe me, it is a BIG difference. So, this is my humble advice to travelers, when you make plans and trips, take into account Uncle Sam’s cut, because one way or the other, he will reach your pockets!

Turning dreams into plans…

In a blink of an eye everything has become possible…. I’ve always wanted to have the experience of living in an American small college town and at last the time has come. People seem so nice, happy and it’s contagious! Local coffee shops, restaurants and pubs start taking place for laughter and emerging traditions. Super 8 starts feeling like home and the internationals like family. Being open to new cultures is the best thing you can ever do because you grow and learn so much from each other.

This is just the beggining of the perfect experience!

Sharing moments and stories through a cup of hot coffee @CAFEteria

Rosh Hashanah

I was curious about what Rosh Hashanah is and I have done a little research about it.

Is the jewish new year,is the new year for people, animals, and legal contracts.
The name means “Head of the Year” is observed for two days beginning on 1 Tishrei, the first day of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind’s role in G‑d’s world.

Rosh Hashanah occurs 163 days after the first day of Passover (Pesach).

The Yamim Nora’im are preceded by the month of Elul, during which Jews are supposed to begin a self-examination and repentance, a process that culminates in the ten days of the Yamim Nora’im known as beginning with Rosh Hashanah and ending with the holiday of Yom Kippur.

In this days the people used to eat special food like apples and honey, to symbolize a sweet new year. Other foods with a symbolic meaning may be served, such as the head of a fish (to symbolize the “head” of the year).

I think is good to know more about other countries traditions and is important to make a comparison between these traditions and our own tradition.

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Father of his Country

As for the trip memories, this spectacular scene show us a US Navy soldier contemplating the monument of the father of the country and first president of the United States George Washington, finally raised in 1884.

Someone could think that after years of great accomplishments, this soldier will be gratefully serving to their country forever and always. As for me, I believe that the strong patriotism and love to the Nation is the reason of the huge military legacy that Washington and some others established since the independence of this beautiful country.